Brian Waggoner, Crystal Dynamics’ spokesperson and game design lead on Marvel’s Avengers, has been removed as spokesperson for the studio after several offensive tweets surfaced over the weekend.The tweets, reported by Rock Paper Shotgun and which range from 2010 to 2016, were screen capped and reposted by various Twitter users. One is a racist comment about Indian people, while another is outrageously ableist. A third repeats common racist dog whistles in the wake of the Kaepernick kneeling fiasco, many years before the death of George Floyd touched off the Black Lives Matter protests of 2020.Waggoner offered up an apology for his earlier behavior soon after his tweets started going viral. "Over the weekend old tweets I wrote from before my time at Crystal resurfaced and I apologize and take full accountability for the hurt they caused to my followers, the community, and those I work with," wrote Waggoner. "Since that time, I have learned and grown and the content I posted doesn't reflect who I am today. I understand if you cannot accept my apology because of the pain I have caused. I will continue to listen, learn, and work to improve myself."
Crystal Dynamics followed Waggoner's apology to express disappointment, offer its own apology, and hand down punishment against Waggoner: "It’s incredibly disappointing to see language & views from employees that don't align with our studio values. We apologize to our community & coworkers who are rightfully upset by the content. Brian will no longer be a studio spokesperson or communicating about studio projects."
Waggoner remains the game director of Marvel’s Avengers, which has just announced The Winter Soldier's arrival with update 2.6 at the end of the month.